The Future of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

We have the technology, now the military have to decide how to use it. As the importance of UAVs is now being recognised in modern military operations we need to decide what the military needs, what’s desirable and what’s possible. SMi’s 6th Annual Conference on The Future of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, will examine current and future UAV operations in the EU and the USA

The programme will address operations and concepts of UAVs with a view to the future battlefield, looking at the key areas that are influencing their use. The conference will investigate the relationship between UAV development and network centric and network-enabled visions, looking at ISTAR capabilities within military operations, autonomy levels in UAVs and the rules and regulations of flying in military and civil airspace.

With an exceptional international line up of speakers, the conference offers case studies from international programmes, allowing attendees to address their key concerns by drawing on the experience of our expert panel of speakers.

With special presentations from:

• Air Brigadier General Roberto Corsini, Deputy Chief 3rd Department, Plans & Policy, Defence General Staff, Italy
• Lieutenant Colonel Daniel P Lewandowski, Chief Space Systems, Combat Air Branch, Joint Air Power Competence Centre, NATO
• Lieutenant Colonel John Mullin, UAV Capabilities Officer, Material Capabilities Division, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, US Marine Corps
• Lieutenant Colonel Nick Fitzgerald, Commanding Officer 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery, British Army
• Colonel Maurice de Langlois, Capability Manager Engage, European Defence Agency
• Major General USAF (Ret) Michael Kostelnik, Assistant Commissioner, Office of CBP Air and Marine, DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• Wing Commander Andrew Jeffrey, DAS-UAV, Directorate of Air Staff, Ministry of Defence, UK
• Wing Commander Mike Strong, UK Staff Officer, Civil-Military Co-ordination Plan Dept, Eurocontrol
• Major AAHE Goossens MSc, Technical Project Officer, MALE UAV Project Team, Royal Netherlands Air Force
• Major Radek Stastny, Senior Officer, Reconnaissance and EW Department, Ministry of Defence, Czech Republic
• Professor Ricardo Sanz, Autonomous Systems Laboratory, Universidad Politecnica De Madrid
• Dr Dirk-Roger Schmitt, Business Manager ATM, Institut fuer Flugfuehrung, DLR, Germany

Chaired by: Ian Poll OBE, Professor, Aerospace Engineering, Cranfield University and Business Development and Technical Director, Cranfield Aerospace

Benefits of Attending The Future of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles:

• EXPLORE the current military aims for UAV's
• ASSESS the future direction for UAV's
• EXAMINE operational successes capability requirements
• HEAR international perspectives on UAV operations
• NETWORK with key military and industry exper